27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Other Plays (14 page)

E
LOI:
You can't look at it.

M
ME.
D
UVENET:
My God, my God, I would pluck out my eyes before they would look at that picture!

E
LOI:
(
hoarsely
)
I think it is better to go in the kitchen or basement.

M
ME.
D
UVENET:
No, no, Eloi, burn it here! On the porch!

E
LOI:
Somebody might see.

M
ME.
D
UVENET:
What of it?

E
LOI:
It might be thought that it was something of mine.

M
ME.
D
UVENET:
Eloi, Eloi, take it out and burn it! Do you hear me? Burn it now! This instant!

E
LOI:
Turn your back. I'll take it out of my pocket.

M
ME.
D
UVENET:
(
turning
)
Have you matches, Eloi?

E
LOI:
(
sadly
)
Yes, I have them, Mother.

M
ME.
D
UVENET:
Very well, then. Burn the letter and burn the terrible picture. (
Eloi fumblingly removes some papers from his inside pocket. His hand is shaking so that the picture falls from his grasp to the porch-steps. Eloi groans as he stoops slowly to pick it up.
)
Eloi! What is the matter?

E
LOI:
I—dropped the picture.

M
ME.
D
UVENET:
Pick it up and set fire to it quickly!

E
LOI:
Yes . . . (
He strikes a match. His face is livid in the glow of the flame and as he stares at the slip of paper, his eyes
seem to start from his head. He is breathing hoarsely. He draws the flame and the paper within one inch of each other but seems unable to move them any closer. All at once he utters a stranded cry and lets the match fall.
)

M
ME.
D
UVENET:
(
turning
)
Eloi, you've burned your fingers!

E
LOI:
Yes!

M
ME.
D
UVENET:
Oh, come in the kitchen and let me put soda on it! (
Eloi turns and goes quickly into the house. She starts to follow.
)
Go right in the kitchen! We'll put on baking soda! (
She reaches for the handle of the screen door. Eloi slips the latch into place. Madame Duvenet pulls the door and finds it locked.
)
Eloi! (
He stares at her through the screen. A note of terror comes into her voice.
)
Eloi! You've latched the door! What are you thinking of, Eloi? (
Eloi backs slowly away and out of sight.
)
Eloi, Eloi! Come back here and open this door! (
A door slams inside the house, and the boarder's voice is raised in surprise and anger. Mme. Duvenet is now calling frantically.
)
Eloi, Eloi! Why have you locked me out? What are you doing in there? Open the screen-door, please! (
Eloi's voice is raised violently. The woman inside cries out with fear. There is a metallic clatter as though a tin object were hurled against a wall. The woman screams; then there is a muffled explosion. Mme. Duvenet claws and beats at the screen door.
)
Eloi! Eloi!
Oh, answer me, Eloi! (
There is a sudden burst of fiery light from the interior of the cottage. It spills through the screen door and out upon the clawing, witch-like figure of the old woman. She screams in panic and turns dizzily about. With stiff, grotesque movements and gestures, she staggers down the porch-steps, and begins to shout hoarsely and despairingly.
)
Fire! Fire! The house is on fire, on fire, the house is on fire!

CURTAIN

Lord Byron's Love Letter

CHARACTERS

T
HE
S
PINSTER.

T
HE
O
LD
W
OMAN.

T
HE
M
ATRON.

T
HE
H
USBAND.

Lord Byron's Love Letter

SCENE:
The parlor of a faded old residence in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the late nineteenth century. The shuttered doors of the room open directly upon the sidewalk and the noise of the Mardi Gras festivities can be faintly distinguished. The interior is very dusky. Beside a rose-shaded lamp, the Spinster, a woman of forty, is sewing. In the opposite corner, completely motionless, the Old Woman sits in a black silk dress. The doorbell tinkles.

SPINSTER:
(
rising
)
It's probably someone coming to look at the letter.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
(
rising on her cane
)
Give me time to get out. (
She withdraws gradually behind the curtains. One of her claw-like hands remains visible, holding a curtain slightly open so that she can watch the visitors. The Spinster opens the door and the Matron, a middle-aged woman, walks into the room.
)

S
PINSTER:
Won't you come in?

M
ATRON
: Thank you.

S
PINSTER:
You're from out of town?

M
ATRON:
Oh, yes, we're all the way from Milwaukee. We've come for Mardi Gras, my husband and I. (
She suddenly notices a stuffed canary in its tiny pink and ivory cage.
)
Oh, this poor little bird in such a tiny cage! It's much too small to keep a canary in!

S
PINSTER:
It isn't a live canary.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
(
from behind the curtains
)
No. It's stuffed.

M
ATRON:
Oh. (
She self-consciously touches a stuffed bird on her hat.
)
Winston is out there dilly-dallying on the street, afraid he'll miss the parade. The parade comes by here, don't it?

S
PINSTER:
Yes, unfortunately it does.

M
ATRON:
I noticed your sign at the door. Is it true that you have one of Lord Byron's love letters?

S
PINSTER:
Yes.

M
ATRON:
How very interesting! How did you get it?

S
PINSTER:
It was written to my grandmother, Irénée Marguerite de Poitevent.

M
ATRON:
How very interesting! Where did she meet Lord Byron?

S
PINSTER:
On the steps of the Acropolis in Athens.

M
ATRON:
How very,
very
interesting! I didn't know that Lord Byron was ever in Greece.

S
PINSTER:
Lord Byron spent the final years of his turbulent life in Greece.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
(
still behind the curtains
)
He was exiled from England!

S
PINSTER:
Yes, he went into voluntary exile from England.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
Because of scandalous gossip in the Regent's court.

S
PINSTER:
Yes, involving his half-sister!

O
LD
W
OMAN:
It was false—completely.

S
PINSTER:
It was never confirmed.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
He was a passionate man but not an evil man.

S
PINSTER:
Morals are such ambiguous matters, I think.

M
ATRON:
Won't the lady behind the curtains come in?

S
PINSTER:
You'll have to excuse her. She prefers to stay out.

M
ATRON:
(
stiffly
)
Oh. I see. What was Lord Byron doing in Greece, may I ask?

O
LD
W
OMAN:
(
proudly
)
Fighting for freedom!

S
PINSTER:
Yes, Lord Byron went to Greece to join the forces that fought against the infidels.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
He gave his life in defense of the universal cause of freedom!

M
ATRON:
What was that, did she say?

S
PINSTER:
(
repeating automatically
)
He gave his life in defense of the universal cause of freedom.

M
ATRON:
Oh, how very interesting!

O
LD
W
OMAN:
Also he swam the Hellespont.

S
PINSTER:
Yes.

O
LD
W
OMAN
: And burned the body of the poet Shelley who was drowned in a storm on the Mediterranean with a volume of Keats in his pocket!

M
ATRON:
(
incredulously
)
Pardon?

S
PINSTER:
(
repeating
)
And burned the body of the poet Shelley who was drowned in a storm on the Mediterranean with a volume of Keats in his pocket.

M
ATRON:
Oh. How very, very interesting! Indeed. I'd like so much to have my husband hear it. Do you mind if I just step out for a moment to call him in?

S
PINSTER:
Please do. (
The Matron steps out quickly, calling,
“
Winston! Winston!"
)

O
LD
W
OMAN:
(
poking her head out for a moment
)
Watch them carefully! Keep a sharp eye on them!

S
PINSTER:
Yes. Be still. (
The Matron returns with her husband who has been drinking and wears a paper cap sprinkled with confetti.
)

M
ATRON:
Winston, remove that cap. Sit down on the sofa. These ladies are going to show us Lord Byron's love letter.

S
PINSTER:
Shall I proceed?

M
ATRON:
Oh, yes. This—uh—is my husband—Mr. Tutwiler.

S
PINSTER:
(
coldly
)
How do you do.

M
ATRON:
I am
Mrs.
Tutwiler.

S
PINSTER:
Of course. Please keep your seat.

M
ATRON:
(
nervously
)
He's been—celebrating a little.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
(
shaking the curtain that conceals her
)
Ask him please to be careful with his cigar.

S
PINSTER:
Oh, that's all right, you may use this bowl for your ashes.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
Smoking is such an unnecessary habit!

H
USBAND:
Uh?

M
ATRON:
This lady was telling us how her Grandmother happened to meet Lord Byron. In Italy, wasn't it?

S
PINSTER:
No
.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
(
firmly
)
In Greece, in Athens, on the steps of the Acropolis! We've mentioned that
twice,
I believe. Ariadne, you may read them a passage from the journal first.

S
PINSTER:
Yes.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
But please be careful what you choose to read! (
The Spinster has removed from the secretary a volume wrapped in tissue and tied with a ribbon.
)

S
PINSTER:
Like many other young American girls of that day and this, my Grandmother went to Europe.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
The year before she was going to be presented to society!

M
ATRON:
How old was she?

O
LD
W
OMAN:
Sixteen! Barely sixteen! She was very beautiful, too! Please show her the picture, show these people the picture! It's in the front of the journal. (
The Spinster removes the picture from the book and hands it to the Matron.
)

M
ATRON:
(
taking a look
)
What a lovely young girl, (
passing it to the Husband
)
Don't you think it resembles Agnes a little?

H
USBAND:
Uh.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
Watch out! Ariadne, you'll have to
watch
that man. I believe he's been drinking. I
do
believe that he's been—

H
USBAND:
(
truculently
)
Yeah? What is she saying back there?

M
ATRON:
(
touching his arm warningly
)
Winston! Be
quiet.

H
USBAND:
Uh!

S
PINSTER:
(
quickly
)
Near the end of her tour, my Grandmother and her Aunt went to Greece, to study the classic remains of the oldest civilization.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
(
correcting
)
The oldest
European
civilization.

S
PINSTER:
It was an early morning in April of the year eighteen hundred and—

O
LD
W
OMAN:
Twenty-seven!

S
PINSTER:
Yes. In my Grandmother's journal she mentions—

O
LD
W
OMAN:
Read it, read it,
read
it.

M
ATRON:
Yes,
please
read it to us.

S
PINSTER:
I'm trying to find the place, if you'll just be patient.

M
ATRON:
Certainly, excuse me. (
She punches her Husband who is nodding.
)
Winston!

S
PINSTER:
Ah, here it is.

O
LD
W
OMAN:
Be
careful!
Remember where to
stop
at, Ariadne!

S
PINSTER:
Shhh! (
She adjusts her glasses and seats herself by the lamp.
)
“
We set out early that morning to inspect the ruins of the Acropolis. I know I shall never forget how extraordinarily pure the atmosphere was that morning. It seemed as though the world were not very old but very, very young, almost as though the world had been newly created. There was a taste of earliness in the air, a feeling of freshness, exhilarating my senses, exalting my spirit. How shall I tell you, dear Diary, the way the sky looked? It was almost as though I had moistened the tip of my pen in a shallow bowl full of milk, so delicate was the blue in the dome of the heavens. The sun was barely up yet, a tentative breeze disturbed the ends of my scarf, the plumes of the marvelous hat which I had bought in Paris and thrilled me with pride whenever I saw them reflected! The papers that morning, we read them over our coffee before we left the hotel, had spoken of possible war, but it seemed unlikely,
unreal: nothing was real, indeed, but the spell of golden antiquity and rose-colored romance that breathed from this fabulous city.”

O
LD
W
OMAN:
Skip that part! Get on to where she meets him!

S
PINSTER:
Yes. . . . (
She turns several pages and continues.
)
“
Out of the tongues of ancients, the lyrical voices of many long-ago poets who dreamed of the world of ideals, who had in their hearts the pure and absolute image—”

O
LD
W
OMAN:
Skip
that part! Slip down to where—

S
PINSTER:
Yes!
Here! Do
let us manage without any more
interruptions! “
The carriage came to a halt at the foot of the hill and my Aunt, not being too well—”

O
LD
W
OMAN:
She had a sore throat that morning.

S
PINSTER: “
—preferred to remain with the driver while I undertook the rather steep climb on foot. As I ascended the long and crumbling flight of old stone steps—”

O
LD
W
OMAN:
Yes, yes, that's the place! (
The Spinster looks up in annoyance. The Old Woman's cane taps impatiently behind the curtains.'
)
Go
on,
Ariadne!

S
PINSTER: “
I could not help observing continually above me a man who walked with a barely perceptible limp—”

O
LD
W
OMAN:
(
in hushed wonder
)
Yes—Lord Byron!

S
PINSTER: “
—and as he turned now and then to observe beneath him the lovely panorama—”

O
LD
W
OMAN:
Actually he was watching the girl behind him!

S
PINSTER:
(
sharply
)
Will you
please
let me finish? (
There is no answer from behind the curtains, and she continues to read.
)
“
I was irresistibly impressed by the unusual nobility and refinement of his features!” (
She turns a page.
)

O
LD
W
OMAN:
The handsomest man that ever walked the earth! (
She emphasizes the speech with three slow but loud taps of her cane.
)

S
PINSTER:
(
flurriedly
)
“The strength and grace of his throat, like that of a statue, the classic outlines of his profile, the sensitive
lips and the slightly dilated nostrils, the dark lock of hair that fell down over his forehead in such a way that—”

O
LD
W
OMAN:
(
tapping her cane rapidly
)
Skip that, it goes on for pages!

S
PINSTER: “
. . . When he had reached the very summit of the Acropolis he spread out his arms in a great, magnificent gesture like a young god. Now, thought I to myself, Apollo has come to earth in modern dress.”